We look ahead to the first game of the New Year and decade as the Reds travel to Essex on New Year’s Day.
Town will look to start the new year off with a bang after reacting well to their loss against Oldham with a 4-0 win over Northampton before a well earned point on the road against Grimsby Town to finish 2019.
SCENE SETTER:
The Reds come off the back of 4 points from their last two games so will be full of confidence heading into the fixture. Town will also be looking for revenge as it was our New Year’s Day opponents who ended our historic run in the Carabao Cup. Last time out, Yems’ side battled hard in North Lincolnshire to earn a well deserved point. Ashley Nadesan netted for the third time this season to cancel out an early Jake Hessenthaler goal for the hosts. That result sees the Reds climb to 15th place in the table.
Colchester are in fine form and currently sit sixth in League 2 having not lost a league fixture since the 19th of October. The U’s drew to second place Exeter in their last fixture of 2019. Harry Pell cancelled out Exeter’s Jake Taylor’s early goal and Colchester completed the turnaround when Theo Robinson scored his sixth of the season. However in the 75th minute Tom Lapslie conceded a penalty which resulted in his dismissal and Ryan Bowman rescuing a point for Exeter.
TEAM NEWS:
With no fresh injuries or suspensions picked up at the weekend John Yems has the same pool of players to choose from for the first game of 2020.
VIEW FROM THE CAMP:
JY: “Colchester is always a tough place to go but we go there with confidence. I’ve said it a lot since i’ve come in, but one thing I can always guarantee is effort from the lads and tomorrow will not be any different. We’ve got players the on their day can hurt anyone and have a backline that is proving to be resilient at the moment. I don’t think the cup loss will have an effect on the lads, we’ve beaten then once already this season at home so there is no reason why we cant replicate that performance and get some more points on the board.”
PREVIOUS MEETINGS:
Colchester have been one of our most regular opponents since we came into the Football League in 2011 and we have a decent record against the U’s. In 14 previous League encounters Reds have seven wins, there have been four draws while had Colchester won three in a row against us before our 2-0 New Year’s Day triumph last season, when Luke Gambin scored twice in the second half after Joe McNerney was shown a straight red card for a foul on Harry Pell. Colchester are no strangers to the Reds this season having already faced off twice at The People’s Pension Stadium. In the league we won 1-0 courtesy of a Mason Bloomfield finish, before losing out to the U’s in the Reds famous cup run earlier this season.
IN CHARGE:
Referee: Anthony Coggins
Assistants: Stuart Butler & Carl-Fitch Jackson
4th Official: Adrian Tranter
TICKETS AND HOW TO BUY:
Click here for all your ticketing information for the game.
HOW THEY BET:
Reds are placed at 18/5 to take all three points with Colchester being placed at 8/11 with a draw 5/2.
For more odds got to www.skybet.com please gamble responsibly.
